Memories
by wolfxcall
Summary: Near's life at Wammy's was full of "friendship", rivalry, and a mentor who never seemed to be around when he needed him the most. Follow him through his first years as a young genius.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of its characters... yet :)**

**Cuteness about Near and L before the Kira case. Maybe a little of after too, I'm not really sure where it's going yet. This was really fun to write though, I hope the next chapters are as fun!**

**Note: L is about 15/16, Near is about 3/4. Yes, I know Near sounds really sophisticated, that's just his "power" speaking.**

The little boy looked up from the blocks, watching the men with interest. He ignored the older man, who visited the orphanage often, and instead watched the teenager who stood beside him. The teen's hair was untidy like the boy's, but while the child's was a snowy white, his was inky black, like the color the pens wrote on the adoption papers. The older man looked around and whispered something to the teen, who nodded in agreement, smiling softly. The boy stacked a blue block on a yellow one, smiling to himself. He couldn't help but like the older boy's smile, even though his face seemed weighed down with some unspoken pressure.

Sister Mary pointed to the tower, and the teen nodded. He walked over and crouched next to the child, looking at his tower with interest.

"Hello there. That's a nice tower you've got there." He said gently, touching his finger to his lip, a gesture that interested the snowy-haired child greatly. "Are you Nate? Sister Mary said you were."

Nate nodded, stacking a red block on top of the tower.

"Why are you still building? I think it looks great as it is." Nate noticed that the boy's eyes had dark shadows under them, and he couldn't help but wonder why his eyes were like that.

"It can always be improved." Nate whispered, stacking another red block.

The boy nodded a silent agreement. "True. Nate, is there anything you want to ask me?"

"Yes. Why are you here? Who are you? Why are you wearing makeup like the Sisters do?"

The boy laughed. "My name is… Ryuzaki, and it's not makeup, honest." He ran his finger under his eyes and held it out to show Nate that there wasn't anything on his face. "As for why I'm here, I was hoping you could help me figure that out."

Nate tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Nate, I was told by my mentor that I would need to find somebody to teach for the future. He said that the Sisters had told him that you possessed certain talents that we could teach you to adapt to situations they could be helpful for." Ryuzaki smiled gently at Nate, who seemed slightly confused.

"Umm, so you're saying that you want to take me away from here? Like to a home?"

"It depends on you, Nate."

Nate frowned slightly, pulling one of the green blocks out from the tower. The whole thing collapsed, making Ryuzaki jump back to avoid the colorful bricks and Nate laugh at his reaction. "I think I know what you mean. My mind, it's all about my mind. It always is." He stopped, surprised to feel something wet on his face.

The older boy reached forward and gently wiped the tear away. The child ducked his head, embarrassed to have cried in front of other people.

"Nate, I don't think you understand. People with great minds, like you and me, we have a purpose that we must fulfill. Whether we want to or not."

The older man, the one that had been with Ryuzaki before, walked over to stand next to them. "Ryuzaki, the papers have been filed. We can leave now."

Shadowed eyes looked into the clear, dark ones of the child. "Well Nate? Do you want to come live with us?"

Nate nodded, his white hair bobbing with his head. "Yes. I think I want that very much."

The two men laughed, a sound Nate was unfamiliar with. Ryuzaki rose and held out a hand to his friend. "I don't really think Nate suits you that well. What did you say his full name was, Watari?" He asked, addressing the other man.

"Nate Rivers, sir. The papers were filed for a Nate Rivers."

"Nate Rivers. Hmm, Nate, do you mind if I called you… 'Near'?"

**That's it so far! Next I hope to show Near's habits as determined by L. If you have any suggestions, let me know! I'll do my best ^^**


	2. Arrival

Near had never seen a place like the one he was in. He clutched L's hand tightly and shrunk behind him, suddenly nervous about meeting the other kids. The teen looked down at him and smiled, gently prying him from his shirt. He crouched down next to Near and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Near, this is Wammy's House. This is where you're going to live from now on, okay?"

Near nodded, clutching L's hand like a lifeline. He looked back around L to see other kids running, playing, laughing loudly. With a little gasp, he ducked back behind L's figure again, feeling safer behind the boy. He could feel L's warm hand shaking slightly, and he looked into the black eyes in confusion.

L's whole body was shaking now, but not with fear as Near's was, but with silent laughter. "Watari, you never told me that kids could be this… this… adorable!" He seemed uncomfortable with what he had said, but Near thought it was the truth. L was laughing loudly now, and Near stepped away in confusion.

Some of the other kids looked over, and they began to run to where L was sitting. "Look, L's here!" "It's L!" "L's home!" They yelled, tackling him. Ryuzaki was lost under a pile of kids varying from Near's age to young teenagers. Near watched the whole event unfold with uncontained shock on his face.

Two kids hung back, a boy with red hair and a blond of indeterminable gender. They watched with disgust as L pushed the other children off of him, helped by Watari, so he could stand up and dust himself off. "Eh, it's good to see you all again." He said, avoiding their eyes. "I was just stopping by so I could drop off a new student, so you had better all be nice to him." He looked over at Near, who had squatted down on the ground and was poking at a ladybug with a stick. "This is N."

Near looked up, determined to look at least slightly competent. "Hello." He whispered, trying to be like L and avoid everyone's eyes.

The kids stared at him for a couple minute before turning back to L. "How old is he?" One of them asked obnoxiously.

"He is about six years old." Watari answered, stepping in for L. "I think if you have any other questions, you should ask N. He is new, but don't treat him as a stranger. L needs to continue his investigations, so he will have to leave immediately." L nodded, looking once more at Near before following Watari back to where the car was parked.

Near sat in shock, suddenly terrified of the other children. He hadn't expected to be left alone after only being at the new orphanage for such a short time, and he didn't even know where his room was. The other kids ignored him, turning away to mutter to each other. He could hear the group closest to him whispering about what they thought L's current case was on, though he had no idea what they meant.

The two others he had noticed earlier strolled over to where he was sitting. The blond looked down at him and held out a hand. "Welcome to Wammy's, kid. We're two of the best students here, just so you know." He gestured to the red head beside him, still holding his hand out. After consideration, Near took the offer and allowed the boy to pull him up.

He looked at the two boys before him. While he had thought previously that the blond was a girl, he confirmed with a second glance that the kid was, in fact, a boy like himself. He couldn't understand why a boy would wear all black leather in an almost girlish style, but he was beginning to get used to the strange quirks of the kids at Wammy's House. The other boy, the one with red hair, was looking at a small gaming consol he held in his hands, his eyes livid while he tried to do something related to the game he was playing.

"So you're N, huh? You must be pretty smart to have been hunted down and brought back here by L himself." M took a bite out of a chocolate bar he had opened after helping Near up. The six year old winced at the crunching sound the chocolate made, but he didn't say anything. "I'm M, and this is Matt." He grinned. "We're only a few years older than you, I'm nine and Matt's eight. If you want to, we can show you around for a couple days." He broke off a piece of the chocolate bar and held it out to Near. "What do you say?"

Near took the piece of chocolate and popped it in his mouth. "Sounds like a plan to me."


End file.
